A 28-year-old terror suspect was arrested from the outskirts of Bengaluru city on Monday, June 24, for his alleged involvement in the 2014 Burdwan bomb blast case in West Bengal.
The accused, Habibur Rahman Sheikh, was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) from Doddaballapur town, 35 km from the Bengaluru city. Rahman, who was on the run since the blast, is suspected to be a member of the terror outfit Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB).
According to the officials, the NIA nabbed Rahman who is a native of West Bengal on Monday after receiving a credible tip-off. He was living in a rented room in a mosque with his wife and child. "Rahman was planning to set up a pani puri vending business before he was caught," said the officials.
Preliminary probe revealed that after fleeing West Bengal in 2014, he reached KR Puram in east Bengaluru, where several Bangladeshis reside illegally. He stayed in the area for a few years and joined an automobile garage as a helper, before shifting to Doddaballapur.
The NIA has now charge-sheeted Rahman for conspiracy to wage war against the governments of India and Bangladesh. He was produced before the NIA court in Bengaluru and taken to Kolkata on a transit warrant for further investigation.
"Rahman is a close associate of Jahidul Islam and was known to other leaders in the terror outfit, including Rahamatullah SK and Moulana Yusuf. He was an active member of the JMB's Bolpur Module in West Bengal, and had attended a number of training camps" said the NIA.
Rahman was allegedly involved in preparing a crude bomb at the house of Hasan Choudhari at Khagragarh town in Burdwan town on October 2014. The bomb, which exploded during the process of assembling it, killed two people and injured many.
A case was registered by the local police but later taken over by the NIA. Adil Asadullah, one of Rahman's associates, was arrested in August 2018 from Bengaluru's Ramanagaram in connection with the bomb blast at Kalchakra Maidan in Bodh Gaya on January 19.
